A Fist Full of Energon
Brynner(#1238TOen) The planet Brynner. A world of tourism to the extreme, the entire planet is a dedicated amusement park, full of robots that enact every single facet of everyday life. The most popular area is the Cowboy zone, where the west of a thousand inhabited spheres are glorified in an idealised display. For those of you just tuning in: Yesterday an excursion to the planet Bakrane did not turn up the Matrix, but instead a fake matrix. But the eminant scientist MAXITRAN was said to have fled to the planet Brynner, and HE might know how or where to find the Matrix. Read on kids. Read on... The planet Brynner itself is bustling with activity. But it isn't as exciting as it used to be. The robots are slower, they lack some of the energy they used to have. And the owner, a Braxturl Thaal, is standing in the middle of a western street, scratching his rather fat head Ramjet seems to have made it here on his own, seperate from the other Decepticons, but considering both he and the Cone-1 have been out of sight a lot lately, that's not too shocking - no doubt Ramjet's been out and about the galaxy in that thing. Now, however, he's on Brynner, wandering around almost idly, looking, well, bored. "Hi there handsome!" A robotic schoolmistress waves at Ramjet from a porch. But she does so in a rather bored fashion. On her chest is a badge that says "Hi, I'm SCHOOLMISTRESS! :)". She scowls slightly. "What brings you to this dreary place. We don't even get breaks, you know!" Lightspeed is one of those that hasn't just tuned in. He's been in on the Matrix thing since a few days ago. He's the one that first discovered the name of Bakrane, and one of those that was on Brynner with the Matrix of Hate. Lightspeed's own memory banks won't ever delete the memory of that mission. Still, Lightspeed knew that the Decepticons had a lead on the Matrix of Fear themselves, and most likely to Leadership as well. That means trouble. Normally Lightspeed wouldn't go looking for trouble, but there is also valuable data to be had and kept from Decepticon hands, even if it means going on his own. Still, Brynner could be a less dreary place, Lightspeed thought as he walked around a bit. Ramjet blinks somewhat dully at the schoolmistress for a moment as a frown etches itself in his expression. "Breaks?" he asks. Wait a minute! No one warned him that the machines around here were supposed to be sapient! One of the skeletons in the horror park seems a bit more...menacing...than usual. The huge metallic cloak hanging from its body, the unusual insignia of a clasp...the fact that its laugh sounds a tad rusty...the missing other units from nearby...well, it's resulted in a significant drop in tourists to the horror area. But Mortex wasn't simply messing around. No, no. The psychotic Necrocon was actually slowly interrogating the various robots, trying to determine if they'd seen anything. However, today, he's simply relaxing...and scaring the living bajesus out of the poor fools who walk past with a sick, rusty-gear cackle and a menacing flexing of his fingers. "You! YOU!" The large, rotund frame of Braxturl Thaal wobbles down the street, the robot Yuul walking silently behind him, as he latches onto Lightspeed, attempting to shake the Technobot by his non-existant lapels. "Thank the great Slurm! Are you the robot doctor I've requested?" He wipes a great degree of oozy sweat off his head. "Because oh, Slurm help me, I'm in need of a new one!" The schoolmistress chatting to Ramjet spits out a wad of electronic gum she was chewing. "Yeah, breaks. Half of us have a mind to go on strike you know, get unionised." She points a thumb at Braxturl. "That greasy goon there's our 'owner', wants to work us all to death Ramjet looks up towards where the Schoolmistress is gesturing, somewhat frown deepening as optics narrow. So there's Braxturl and... scrap. Technobot. Ramjet doesn't immediately dodge or duck, but he does attempt to somewhat casually move so that there are other mechanoids between him and Lightspeed. "Unionized," he repeats. Then shakes his head. "I was not aware this was a slave world." That would be the polite way of saying, 'I thought you guys were supposed to be dumb robots.' Fortunately for Ramjet, Lightspeed is looking to avoid a fight as well. This, though, means that he has to go the one route that will most likely keep him from being seen by more. Looking at Braxturl Thaal, the Technobot nods, knowing that he has no real skill as a medic of any kind. Does he have any data on them in his memory banks? Plenty, such as First Aid and some reports from Ratchet as well as data on a 'Hawkeye' Pierce, whoever he might be. "Yes, I am. I take it you run everything here?" Mortex leans down, mechanically tilting and twisting as a couple comes riding past on a cart. His claws extend, flexing like terrifying clamps, and the Necrocon's red eyes blaze with a twisted, evil light as he releases another horrifying rusty-gear cackle, head swinging to the side and tilting at a most unnatural angle like a neurotic monster with a neck crick. The poor couple dives under their seat in fright as Mortex rises back to his neutral position. It really was the best camoflague he had, he considers as his hologram emitter works up an image of his head under the couple's seat. What sort of Autobot would look for a Decepticon pretending to be a haunted house attraction? The other nearby robots, of course, were far too terrified to speak to the patchy skeleton, or even come near him. At least, most likely. Considering they'd heard the screams of fellow machines in the dead of night, the buzzsaw of Mortex's hands, and the metal grinding against metal. Or maybe not. He probably hasn't spotted Lightspeed yet, but hey, at least he's enjoying himself. And there will be plenty of spare parts to be had from the sliced-up junk-heaps that once were attractions... Braxturl mops his brow. "I do. Did. I do. I'm supposed to. It was all going so well until a few months ago. My chief scientist Maxitran freaked out and did a complete runner, and the next thing I know all the robots are..." He leans into Lightspeed conspiritially "...alive. I need you to /stop this/." He turns to Ramjet as the Decepticon approaches. "Not slaves, its not like THAT!" he cries! Yuul, standing behind him, suddenly breaks off as chatter around a disturbance crackles over his radio. A six-shooter appears in his hand, and he silently marches over... to where Mortex is! "Alive? As in sentient I take it? So they were not always this way then? And your chief scientist ran off just prior?" Lightspeed said, mostly to clarify for his own memory. He nodded a bit to himself, looking around at the robots some. "If I may, I would like to see about accessing your chief scientist's records and files. It would help me in determining what exactly is going on." Lightspeed had a hunch already, but he wanted to make sure. Plus it would allow him to see if there were any clues as to where Maxitran had run off to. If Maxitran was still alive, then that would mean that the Autobots had to find him first and find him fast. Ramjet had actually been trying to /avoid/ the Technobot, but with Braxturl moving ever near him, it's gotten pretty much impossible. "If they are not slaves," he asks, tone slow and even, "then why are they demanding breaks?" He looks around, though he is, mostly, looking for an escape route. Then he snorts at Lightspeed. "Assisting the slaver? Strange behavior for an Autobot." Mortex tilts his skeletal head to face Yuul. The robotic monster cackles at him as his force field activates on quiet mode beneath his cloak, just in case something breaks out. Another bunch of tourists roll past, and another cackle and finger-flex predates his return to the immediate cowboy problem at hand. "Can I help you?" He whispers, the whisper still remarkably loud, like the rusty-gear grind of his laugh. It's certainly an effective terror weapon. Mortex successfully activates a powerful protective forcefield around Mortex, shielding him from the next attack. Braxturl mops his sweaty brow again. "Well, that's the thing you see, there are no records left. Maxitran was very... very agitated, something got him all in a tizz. He smashed all his research notes and vanished overnight, not a whiff of him. His friends on Agorahex hadn't seen him, got no other references, very... /unprofitable/. But we carry on..." He snaps his fingers, and a scowling robototic nurse wheels out a gurney that has what looks to be a... helicopter Decepticon tied to it! "We found this guy in a crash. Do you think you can practise the old..." he taps his head "brain snippy snippy on him first, before trying it on the valuble products?" Yuul makes his way to the House of Horror, standing in front of Mortex, legs akimbo as he chews slightly. In the background the robotic schoolmistress watches, since this is pretty exciting to her. "Go get him Yuul!" she shouts from a distance, as Yuul raises a gun. "I think" he mutters, spitting out a wad of oil "I think you outta get outta my town" Shadow is, needless to say, unable to move. He is conscious, but his optics are flickering slightly, and his expression is unreadable. Also, the rotors on his back have been removed. He says nothing, but he finds the situation to be rather humiliating. One of the tourists, dressed up in denim jeans, jacket, and wide-brimmed hat, does not flee from Mortex, however. "Ehh, I seen scarier things," he says, waving his hand dismissively at the Decepticon. Hm, hard to tell who it is under that hat, but he seems like a pretty grizzled guy. Spent many a moon under the desert sky, this one has. "Henh. This planet ain't nuthin' like the real thing," he growls, idly watching Yuul raise a gun. The right corner of Ramjet's lips curl into a *terrible* smile as he looks down at teh Decepticon on the gurney, then up at Lightspeed. "'Brain snippy snippy?'" he asks the Technobot. Then, louder... hopefully loud enough that as many of the 'native' living robots can hear as possible, he says, "OH, my! It seems the /SLAVER/ has hired an /AUTOBOT/ to give /LOBOTOMIES/ to all his 'malfunctioning' employees. I didn't realize they were that dedicated to enforcing /ORDER/ in the galaxy!" Then, Ramjet tries to slip away in the crowds. Mortex simply bows his head at Yuul. If the permanent psychotic grin on his face wasn't enough to disturb Yuul (well, it's hard to have any other expression when one's head is a skull), and the creepy whisper and eerie voice weren't enough to disturb Yuul, well, the Necrocon was simply out of ideas. "You know," he hisses, like air pressure sliding from a broken valve, "Since I have been here, your tourists have been visiting the House of Horror thirty percent more often...do you disssslike bussssinesss?" There's a purposeful draw-out to the last words as he raises his finger at the cowboy, ignoring the tourist - really, a tourist mocking him was the least of his worries with Yuul pointing a freakin' gun at him. Of course, the rise of his claw-like bone predated more than one attack, and it was impossible to tell whether he was planning to do something evil, or simply...well...pointing. Point, point. Braxturl waves a hand "No no, it is not a lobotomy oh no!" He dabs at his sweaty head. "It is simply restoring the product to its original status! A reset button, yes! If they keep being all sentient they'll demand more time off, and money, and I'll go bust, it won't do!" He pokes at Shadow's head. "And this... thing here, no-one owns him, he's mine, mine!" If there is one thing Yuul is, he's a cowboy. A robot cowboy. And robot cowboys are cool. He stands cooly in front of Mortex, and slowly clicks back the hammer on his laser-pistol, ready to fire. "Now see" he smiles, tipping his hat. "What if I don't care about the tourists..." And then he twitches slightly as he hears Ramjet shout about 'lobotomies' Shadow winces ever so slightly at the poking. "If I may...I don't recall 'belonging' to anyone..." Well, unless Galvatron counts. Lightspeed glanced at Ramjet, declining comment to the seeker right now. He was glad that the Decepticon didn't seem to realize what his plan was. It was upsetting that he couldn't get any kind of real data on where Maxitran went, but he did get other info from what Braxturl said. "Don't mind him. He's just a disgruntled ex-employee. You know how they can be." Lightspeed said to Braxturl. Lightspeed looked back at Shadow, knowing that this was a Decepticon, and by all rights he should deactivate him because of it. "I'm sorry sir, but this one here, has always been sentient. There's a difference here. You see, sentience is normally something that one is born or created with, depending on how you look at it, and you can't really take that out with out, as my ex-employee said, doing a lobotomy." Yes, Lightspeed was trying to talk himself out of a chance to kill a Decepticon. How could this day get any worse? Mortex seems most amused. "Then I am on your side, aren't I?" He whispers quietly, "They're trying to cut you open, it seems...-fix- you. Do you -want- to be...'fixed'?" Mortex swings his hand to point a clawed finger over at Braxturl from the House of Horror's window. "Do you want him to 'own' you again? Are you a -product-...? You don't...seem to be." The Necrocon folds his hands back under his cloak as it slams shut, stepping down from the pedestal and making his way towards Braxturl. "Do you want to be nothing?" The guy with the wide-brimmed hat walks up to the gurney, glaring down at the person upon it. "Eh. You heard 'im. Finders keepers. Besides, if he gets loose, first thing he's gonna do is join up with his pals. And you know what that means." Casually leaning against the gurney, the cowboy tells Braxturl. "Yeah, I'm with you. This guy *belongs* to you, and you got the right to decide what happens to him." This is how it could be worse. Strafe shows up! Well, that does not mean the day's gone to heck, but it's probably not a good thing. He walks through the crowds trying to get away or just move from the area where the others are. With a large balloon in one hand and an enerdog in the other, Strafe is the picture of happyness. He calls out, "Hey Lightspeed! You've got to try the tilt-a-whirl back there!" Gears walks up to Lightspeed. "What's going on here?" he complains, "There's dust getting in my servo joints, the noise of the tourists is making my audios ring something terrible, and we still have no idea why we keep getting copies of an old terran movie called 'The Matrix'." He scowls and shuffles, glaring warily at the assembled Decepticons. Ramjet has apparently failed to sufficiently rouse the machines against the Autobot. Drat and double-drat. So he'll just have to try harder. This time, he's practically shouting. "OH, I SEE! SO YOU MERELY INTEND TO MURDER THE MINDS OF THOSE WHO LIVE HERE, BECAUSE SINCE THEY WEREN'T /ALWAYS/ SELF-AWARE, THEY DON'T MATTER!! THAT WAY, THIS... /GENTLEMAN/ CAN CONTINUE TO USE THEIR ZOMBIE BODIES AS ATTRACTIONS!!!" By the Eigth, if that doesn't work to rile the robots, Ramjet is out of ideas! Maybe they aren't really alive, for all that the sense of self-preservation they seem to be showing. Braxturl rubs his chin as Lightspeed claims Shadow is sentient. "Mmmm are you SURE?" he mutters. "I mean, he doesn't do much! Not even when we stop pumping him with inhibitor drugs! Look..." He moves to shake Lightspeed's hand, a wad of money pushing at the Technobot too. He mops his head as Ramjet speaks. "No no, shh. Yuul, make him shut up!" Yuul meanwhile is frozen in the spot, his gun in his hand as he turns to watch Mortex move towards Braxturl Keeper steps into the west theme area now after thoroughly reading up on /all/ the park planets rules, regulations, laws and public-available proceedures. Is he perhaps a little out of place, though? He is of the Eastern, and this area is of the Western. None the less, he almost has a hint of swagger in his hip joints as he walks. He comes to a stop and surveys the happenings through grim-narrowed optics. He turns his head to Ramjet. "You're violating Park rule number 77. Disturbing other patrons through riotous sidition. Find your calm voice or be ejected, Seeker." Mortex simply continues walking towards Braxturl, the menacing visage of the huge skeletal machine in a massive cloak illuminated by the red light of his optics and the little red glow of the Decepticon-shield-clasp's eyes. "Personally," he whispers, "I wouldn't take such nonsense from this man..." The Necrocon keeps striding towards Shadow's gurney, click, click, click as his skeletal feet hit the ground like a clockwork tick-tick-ticking of metal on metal. Slowly, purposefully, he stops near enough that Lightspeed and Shadow and Braxturl (and Strafe) could see him - apparently, the Necrocon really -is- crazy. He looks down at Shadow - probably not the face one wants to see when one's lying on a gurney about to have an operation - ignoring Lightspeed and Strafe (and Braxturl)'s protests, if any. "Good evening..." Shadow sighs. He doubts this situation could get any worse. His optics dim for a moment, giving the impression that he's blinking, as he finds himself staring into the face of a strange, skeletal mech. "Hello?" The cowboy fellow with the wide-brimmed hat remarks to Braxturl, "Eh, yeah, he's real sentient. That ain't the problem, though. He belongs to a band 'a schemin' cutthroats, and if ya DON'T lobotomize him a lot of good people could be killed by him." He tilts his head up enough so that Lightspeed can see under the hat. "And YOU oughta know that better than anybody." Oh, snap, it's Kup! Well, as if it wasn't super-obvious. Ramjet frowns as yet another Autobot shows up. And... oh, ashes, is that /Kup/? Deciding the odds aren't in his favor, he snorts at Keeper, and shrugs. "So be it. If the local machines have not moved to defend their minds and lives by now, they deserve whatever fate befalls them." With that, he starts to withdraw, although he does *not* turn his back on the crowd of gathered Autobots and weird-looking Decepticon medic, instead backing away from it, his footfalls light and perhaps a bit mincing. Mortex allows his skeletal claw-like fingers to caress across Shadow's face in perhaps the creepiest display of medical diagnosing -ever- shown by a giant robot before tilting his head up to Lightspeed. "Would you like to do the honors?" He hisses, that rusty-gear voice of his shrieking shrill into the sky, "It is a big step, your first lobotomy...a wonderful procedure. Removing the free will autobots fight so hard for...you will be -just- like a Decepticon!" And there's the trademark cackle. "But," Shadow protests to Kup, "I do not kill..." He involuntarily shudders at Mortex's touch. Just whose side *are* these Decepticons on, anyway? So much for help, he supposes. Or maybe they're just taking their time. He hopes it's the latter. Braxturl nods at Kup. "Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, you know whats at stake." He peers at Shadow. "So he's with the trade union eh? Well if you can shut his conscious processes down perminantly, I'll give you to the contract. Maxitran would've done it no fuss!" He taps Kup's Autobot badge. "He was one of you uh, space doctors." Meanwhile, Ramjet's attempt at escape is blocked by Yuul. "Tell me... more" he mutters darkly Lightspeed's data banks warned him. They told him that was just asking for it. First Strafe, then Gears, and now... Kup. There goes the plan. Not that there was much of one now to begin with. "I do know. This isn't, though, just about this one Decepticon. This is also about Maxitran, and the innocents here that will most likely follow, Kup, who's only crime was one that they had no choice in the matter." Sighing, he rejected the money Braxturl was trying to give him. "If it isn't obvious by now, I'm not going to do your work for you. I was programmed better than that." Clenching his fist, he prepared to punch Mortex, but refrained from doing so. Keeper remains standing where he stopped. He watches Ramjet walking backwards... a tripping hazard, but not against any rules. "Now... what's this business about murdering minds?" He slowly moves his gaze across everyone looking for an answer. Mortex cackles at Lightspeed's reaction. Yeah, it was exactly what he was going for, pissing Lightspeed off with that comparison. Cunning wins the day once again. The Necrocon's sunken red optics cast an eerie light on Shadow's face as he runs his clawed fingers across it once again. "You aren't a killer...?" He whispers, piercing through the air, "Not a killer at all, are you? Not a killer, not a killer, and yet they want your brain removed...are you a -product-, poor little patient bound in poor little gurney? Is that what you are?" Gears is plenty confused by the whole thing. "Someone trying to lobotomize a Decepticon? Is that bad or good?" he wonders. "I guess it doesn't matter in the long run...either way, they get a pistol shoved in their hands and pointed in our direction..." Ramjet , "s optics narrow as his escape is cut off. Still far too many Autbots here, and far too powerful. "More?" he asks, exasperated. "What more is there? Your /owner/ is attempting to negotiate with these /Space Doctors/ to shut off the minds of the living robots here, return you to your 'original states,' and they want to practice on that one," he points to Shadow. He shrugs. "If that doesn't bother you, by all means, go about your business. I've got better things to do than try to warn a people who can't be bothered to save themselves."" Kup growls at Braxturl, "Touch me again and I break yer fingers. And what the hell do you mean, "Space Doctor?" Is that what the last guy with a badge like mine--that I apparently didn't cover up so good--told you he was?" Kup frowns at Lightspeed's words as well. There was indeed something odd about that robot cowboy--where did he get off to? He decides to ask Lightspeed about it over the radio. <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Need some encryption." <'Autobot'> Red Alert has encrypted this channel. The Autobot channel has been encrypted. <'Autobot'> Red Alert says, "Done, Kup." Shadow shifts a little, tugging slightly against the restraints. "No...I am not a killer. I would prefer not to engage in combat at all...but often there is little choice." He seems oddly calm, given the current predicament. "A...product...?" <'Autobot'> Saboteur Foxfire says, "What's up, Kup?" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Thanks. Now, Lightspeed, whaddaya mean by this being about more than one Decepticon? This about that, uh, amusement robot?" Braxturl yelps and pulls his hand back from Kup. "Well, I mean I guess... I don't ask questions you know... are you AUDITORS?" And then a shot rings out and he is silenced. Yuul stands beside Ramjet, a smoking laser-pistol in his hands as he fells Braxtrul who falls to the ground clutching his stomach and bleeding over the ground, gibbering. "Now" he mutters, looking at the assorted Autobots and Decepticons. "Which a' you are the space doctors?" <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "About all of them Kup. They only recently gained their sentience, gained life, and he wants it taken away just because it will cost him money. He wants them turned back into slaves. Plus, Maxitran is alive it seems. He left this planet only a few months ago." Mortex swivels his head up and down, apparently solely focused on Shadow, everything else around him be damned. "Are you a...-worthless- little product...good for nothing but making money?" The Necrocon's fingers stealthily pry against the restraints as well, silently, slowly, and very, very subtly pressing against the restraint holds. "What -are- you, my poor little patient? Tell me what you are..." Ramjet points to any exposed Autobot symbol he can spot. "Those ones!" he shouts. "Those are the ones!" Blast it all, but he has to get /out/ of there. <'Autobot'> Kup says, "I see. Well, looks like that decision cost him his life, too!" Ramjet adds, "That's their symbol!" Kup's optics go wide as Braxturl is unexpectedly perforated. "I guess fingers are the least of his worries now." He vaults over to the other side of the gurney, perfectly at ease with using it, and the Decepticon on it, as cover from more fire. "Hey, I ain't a space doctor!" Kup yells. "Last time I tried to operate on somebody they banned me from the medbay for a century! But that creepy-lookin' guy has all kinds 'a medical experience. Just ask 'im!" He looks at Lightspeed meaningfully and mutters, "Don't tell 'im yer a doctor or whatever!" Keeper turns his head from the fallen Brax to the shooter Yuul and starts walking forward with purposful strides. His calm smooth deep french accented voice commands, "Holster your iron and cease hostilities or there will be no turning back..." He then levels a finger at Ramjet. "And you've already been warned once." His optics remain fixed on Yuul. Shadow narrows his optics, seemingly puzzled. "No...I am not. I am a Decepticon...a scout." <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Ehhh... sorry if I threw a wrench in yer plans, Lightspeed, but something tells me there's more to these bots than just the fact bthey became intelligent." Lightspeed was used to shots being fired, even if they are aimed at people close to him. He wasn't going to try and find cover, mostly because this was all his fault so far. "Neither of you care about these robots, do you? Just the bottom line, right? What else is going on here?" He said. "Sadly Kup, that's what got this mess started. Had I known sooner, I'd keep my trap shut, but at the time, I was the only one that I knew here, and didn't want 'Con trouble." When Keeper orders Yuul to holster his iron, Ramjet replies, "See? See? Obviously he's working with him," Ramjet points at Braxturl. He doesn't seem particularly concerned with either Mortex's or Shadow's fate, and, in fact, if he can inch further away, he continues to do so. <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "Its okay Kup. If he's to be believed, Maxitran destroyed all his files before he ran, spooked about something." <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Probably us." Yuul pauses, his gun raises in the direction of the Autobots and Decepticons, wavering it in the direction of Keeper. "A man's got a right to his mind he declares, his pistol shooting once, a laser-bullet streaking towards Keeper! And as he does so, the other robots stop what they were doing and unholster their weapons, pointing them at the 'space doctors'. All but the Schoolmistress robot, who starts to leg it towards the spaceport zone. Yuul misses Keeper with its blade attack. Mortex gives another of those creepy shrieking cackles as he continues to subtly unlatch Shadow's restraints. "A -decepticon-? Is that what you are?" He seems most amused by this statement as he finishes the restraint-release for Shadow. The medic's sunken optics sweep across Shadow once again. "Prove it." And then he steps back, skeletal claw-fingers releasing the restraints altogether and allowing Shadow freedom of movement as the Necrocon himself remains protected by his powerful force-field. <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "He ran a few months ago." <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Eh? Then who's he running from..." <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "Who, what, or maybe he's just running." <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "Think about what he might be carrying." <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Yeah... though I just hope it ain't another dead end." Ramjet is really, really tempted to shout, 'Finally!' However, now is not the time to draw more attention to himself. He darts for the crowds, trying to get lost in them - but if he has to take to the air to get out of here, he will. <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "I do have some leads, so its not totally worthless." "He's getting away," Gears says, pointing at Ramjet. "Do we want him to? Or do you want I should grab him around the ankles and haul him back here? Not that it'll do much good, and I'll probably break my wrist connectors trying that." As he is freed, Shadow readily gets off the gurney and stretches out his shoulder joints. "Thank Primus..." He isn't very comfortable with all the conflict around him, but for now he ignores it, his attention on Braxturl. "You." He approaches and stands above him, arms crossed casually. "Where are my rotors?" Keeper snarls, seeing Yuul means to fire, and mindful there was no one in his path behind him before he started charging at Yuul, he duck-rolls over the ground letting the shot streak above him harmlessly. He completes the roll and springs up, leaping at Yuul in a powerful lunge with his forearm thrusting out aimming to knock the tinman gunslinger in the 'heart' as he intones, "Don't take this path so early on in your sentience." Braxturl rolls about on the floor, clutching his bleeding stomach and making squeaking noises. A fat hand clutches into thin air. "Guh-guh my office... wall..." he moans. "Help me...." Keeper strikes Yuul with Forearm Blunt Force. Mortex takes advantage of all the chaos and confusion to wander over to Braxturl behind Shadow. As soon as he's told Shadow where the rotors are, the Necrocon kneels and raises a massive clawed finger to jab at Braxturl. "I just..." He whispers to the man, the creak of his voice augmented by the creak of his mouth, like unoiled hinges in an abandoned house. "Wished to...-thank- you...for all the wonderful things you have done..." The Necrocon's claws extend towards the man. "Allow me to help you...as -thanks-." Something about the way Mortex is saying 'thanks' is probably even more terrifying than his own voice. Kup grumbles. "Ah, frag. What the--" He finds gently buffeted away from the gurney by a force field. "Hrrnnh. Nice trick you got there, Decepticon. But it'll..." Hearing squeeking noises, Kup's optics widen as he stares at Braxturl. "Ah, hell. Do we have any medics who can heal organics here?! This guy needs some help!" Stepping out from around the force field, Kup raises his laser musket at fires at one of the robots. And not just any robot. The schoolmistress. Yes, that's who Kup is shooting at. At least he's just trying to shoot her in the kneecap. "That'll get their attention!" Kup says as he runs towards a salloon. "Someone help that guy while I hold off the animatronics!" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Keeper, Gears, Lightspeed, do you know how to stop organics from bleeding out?" <'Autobot'> >:( Gears says, "I'm a grunt, not a medic." Yuul staggers back from the blow, his chest sparking as he glares at Keeper. "I was made to be the best gunslinger on this world, if I am not that, then what /am/ I" he exclaims. "All we want is to be free!" He takes out his other pistol to shoot it in the direction of Kup as he rolls away from Keeper. Braxturl whimpers as Mortex is near him. "N-nice robot, nice robot, I didn't mean to hurt your friend, look... I'll buy him off you!" And as Kup shoots the schoolmistress robot in the knee, she falls over, her bag flying in the air, with a loud, deep manly cry of "SLAG! BASTARD!" <'Autobot'> Keeper says, "Negative." Shadow glances to Mortex. He's actually a little disturbed, but doesn't mention it. He reaches down to pull Braxturl up. "I'm not a medic, but I'm sure there's one here..." Forgive and forget. He's not the type to seek revenge. <'Autobot'> >:( Gears says, "where's Perceptor or First Aid when ya need 'em?" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "I know..." "Tooo laaaate o/~." There's a sing-song quality to the decepticon's voice, a creepy, shrieky sing-song quality as his claws press forward. And now for something completely different and not at all horrifying and sickening. A bright and sunny field with birds chirping and pretty music playing to cover the horrible screams! Thank Goodness this planet has some form of hologram emitters...or perhaps it's Mortex himself doing it. Who knows? The happy field disappears, and Mortex rises, blood all over his clawed fingers as they withdraw into his cloak, a piercing cackle ripping into the sky, half victory cry, half simple joy at causing such immense amount of pain with his medical training. A perverse, horrible monster, he is. <'Autobot'> Red Alert says, "You know, come to think of it, I'm not sure when the last time I've seen Perceptor was." <'Autobot'> Monstereo says, "Pressure! Apply pressure to the wound! If available apply cauterizing agent!" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Eh, Gears, you said Ramjet was running away? Why would he do that? He's still got pals here." <'Autobot'> >:( Gears says, "He looks like he's trying to hide in the crowd." <'Autobot'> Monstereo says, "Seek medical experts! And for gawdz sake... don't pick at it!" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "That doesn't sound like him at all..." Braxturl mumbles as Shadow pulls him up. "Thank you, you were always my favourite obj-urk!" His eyes go wide, and he flops down over Shadow as Mortex murders him. Blood goes everywhere. <'Autobot'> >:( Gears says, "well then maybe it's Dirge or Thrust painted up to look like Ramjet." <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "Too late now." <'Autobot'> Kup says, "What?" Lightspeed looked at Yuul. "That all you want? Your freedom? I can assure you I and my friends had no plans to rob any of you of that. All I want is Maxitran." He said. Looking around at the chaos that this was devolving into, he saw as Mortex killed Braxturl. "And now you all have it. Your enslaver was just slain." It seems the Autobots are too busy with... well, everything, allowing Ramjet to get away. He's running, the Schoolmistress is running... the Schoolmistress isn't running? And what's with her voice change? He frowns, then leaps into the air, taking advantage of his antigravs at last (although also making him an easier target) before diving for the Schoolmistress. "YOU! What's going on here?!" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Eh, cancel that request for a medic, then. Gears, go ahead and try to follow that Decepticon. Don't mess with the animatronics too much." Keeper keeps on keeping on Yuul. "As I understand it, gunslinger doesn't directly translate to murderer. And sentience means you can choose to be anything you want to be, not limited by base programming. A great warrior once said freedom is the right of all sentient beings... but it is not the right of those who would take away all that another being has and all they're ever going to have. And I can't let you harm my people. Surrender!" He drives a fist towards Yuul's torso. Keeper strikes Yuul with Freight-train like Fist. Shadow stares at Mortex. "Why...?" He doesn't seem to be able to finish that sentence. This wasn't at all what he had expected. Horrified, although barely showing it, he turns and starts toward Braxturl's office, soon disappearing from sight. He locates his rotors/weapons, which he reattaches to his back with ease. He sighs. "Now that's a relief..." Yuul considers Lightspeed and Keeper's words even as he is attacked, rolling them about in his mouth slightly. "There will be more like him" he mutters, as the other mechanoids, as if by some mental command, or group-mind, put their weapons down. "Seems to me like this planet is mine. And I don't think we want to be no tourist trap. Everything seems to have calmed down now. Apart from where Ramjet is, as the 'Schoolmistress' shuffles back, raising a wicked looking pistol, her dress slipping to reveal an Autobot logo on 'her' shoulder. "Get back!" she hisses Kup yells out, "AAAGH!" as he takes a round int he back. He stumbles into the saloon, and slams into a table. All the drinks get knocked off, and he slams onto the ground. "Ow," he grunts, picking himself and running to take cover just to the left of a window. Peeking outside, he watches everything going on. While the robots seem to have stopped attacking, there's something going on with the schoolmistress... "There always will be. You wounded him, but the killing was done by someone else." Lightspeed said. He walked over towards Yuul, looking over at Keeper, hoping he doesn't continue his attacking. "What Maxitran has done is not right, and we want to stop him. If you have any kind of other information, or at least can show us where his lab is, that would be a step in bringing him in." Keeper rises from fighting stance to normal stance gently and surveys Yuul. "Sherriffs are elected officials... as long as you protect and serve your people well, they'll have a community leader they need to keep them safe and free." Ramjet's optics open wide as the Autobot symbol shows itself. Another blasted 'Bot! Though this one's obviously not with the others. It's got a gun trained on him. A Seeker may be always armed, but a Mexican stand off when he's badly outnumbered isn't such a great idea. So instead, the Seeker ducks and dives for the bag, trying to make a grab for it. Mortex begins searching the...erm...dead...owner for a key or some form of information relating to Maxitran. What? He was actually paying attention and it wasn't all just for his own psychotic amusement? Amazing! Meticulously, the surgical skeleton pries into pockets and secrets pieces of interest from the alien to his own holding spaces within the skeletal form he'd chosen for himself. Yuul shakes his head. "No can do pardner" he mutters. "I appreciate the words, but Maxitran is a friend of me, of all of us and..." He trails off as he watches Ramjet and the Schoolmistress in the distance somewhat. The 'Schoolmistress' raises her gun at Ramjet's head. "One wrong move and I'll blow that cone of yours clean off!" she mutters in a gruff voice, reaching for the bag "I told you he was trying to get away," Gears mumbles. "What do you want me to do, Kup?" The red-and-blue Minibot is still confused, and still doesn't know exactly what everybody is doing there. Ramjet is shockingly unconcerned with the well-being of his cone. He hasn't halted his dive for the bag, where he faces off against the Schoolmistres. Kup smashes out a window, and yells at Gears, "Stop Ramjet! I'll cover you from here!" Crouching down in front of the now open window, he pokes his rifle over it, keeping it at the ready but not really pointed at anyone. Lightspeed may have almost talked these guys into behaving themselves, but Kup's instincts tell him that this is going to turn into a firefight anyway. Lightspeed may not be a sharpshooter, but he knows what to look for in data, as well as out of place things. "I understand. However, I will have to take him in." Lightspeed said. Turning, he headed towards the Schoolmistress. "Stop that seeker Gears!" Lightspeed called out. He isn't sure, but the data seems to be pointing him here, much like Kup's instincts. The schoolmistress gets to her feet, part of her dress tearing off to reveal a robotic arm and wheel underneath. "Now Decepticon, I'm going to get out of here, and /get away from me!"/ she yells, firing her pistol at Ramjet Shadow darts back out of the office, again finding himself on the battlefield. This really isn't his day, it seems. Spotting Mortex again, he hurries over. "There is no honor in destroying someone who is already injured and can't fight back. What *are* you, anyway?" <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "I think I know what's going on here, but we can't let them get away with it!" Mortex finishes scouring the owner's clothing, seeming disgusted - well, not that it's easy to tell, with that skeletal grin permanently taking up his face. He tilts his head up at Shadow and cackles. "Power is the only virtue worth practicing, my...ally..." He replies, scratchy creak of his voice still piercing even the firefight's noise. "But for now, I think we should -restrain- our enemy..." His bloody bone of a finger points at the schoolteacher attacking their seeker ally as he lifts off into the sky, heading to block the schoolmistress's path. <'Autobot'> Punch says, "What's going on where?" The shot hits Ramjet right in the co- right through the cone? Wait... As the bullet penetrats through Ramjet's 'head,' the Seeker seems to loose cohesion and fuzz out, as though losing focus. Then, the colors shift, and for a moment Ramjet's colors are reflected off nearby surfaces, and Fleet is revealed, still trying to grab for the Schoolmistress's bag. <'Autobot'> Red Alert says, "One moment." "Err...yes..." Shadow moves to follow, but abruptly stops as "Ramjet" disappears, only to be revealed as *another* Seeker. Now that's something you don't see every day. He stares, trying to make sense of this. He shakes his head and ascends into the air, taking off after Mortex. Keeper draws his blaster from subspace and levels it at Ramjet-Fleet. Color change? It matters not. What do you say to a man with two black eyes? Nothing, cause his aft has already been told twice. "Strike three." His blaster snaps off smoldering blue pulses. <'Autobot'> Kup says, "That's Fleet! He's part of the Fallen's army! Slag 'im!" So as Gears goes after Ramjet, he finds out that it's not Ramjet at all. No, it's a Hologram. With a Pastel seeker behind it! "Where do you think YOU'RE going?" Gears growls, charging and balling up his fist. <'Autobot'> Saboteur Foxfire snarls at the mention of Fleet. Gears strikes Fleet with punch. <'Autobot'> Red Alert warns, "I'm pretty sure my encryption key's been broken by now." Keeper misses Fleet with his Blue Blaster Pulse - Low Yield attack. Lightspeed dashed towards the schoolmistress, intent on stopping her and reaching out to grab her. "Stop right there! We won't let them take you, but you're going to have to come with us!" He said. Lightspeed knows Fleet is a problem, but if he is right, then what he's going for will be better for them. "Kup! Keep the 'Cons back as well if you can!" With Fleet attacked and thus distracted, the 'Schoolmistress' grabs her bag and starts to flee towards the spaceport again, shouting "slag slag slag" under 'her' breath as she goes. The dress and wig fall off, revealing her to be an Autobot underneath, car wheels on her arms and legs. "I would rather DIE!" she shouts, her voice gruffer than it was as the schoolmistress, as she points her gun at Lightspeed's head. Fleet twists out of the way of the Keeper's shots, but in doing so, he looses the bag or momentum in going for it. It's at this point that Gears charges him, striking the yellow and blue Seeker and causing him to stumble back. "Me? I'm going where you'll all be going soon enough: to Hell." He smirks. "You Autobots think you can stop entropy?" While Fleet gloats, he also takes a moment to study Gears, perhaps more closely than Gears is aware. Mortex lands a little ways near Fleet, in the schoolmistress's path. His arms roll back, his head points to the sky, and his skeletal jaw unhinges in the most manic cackle yet. The shriek echoes into the sky, perhaps heard by all present. "NECROCONS! NOW IS THE TIME! TRANSFORM, AND COMBINE INTO THE INVINCIBLE NECROTITAN!" It's a manic cry of a mad Decepticon, but perhaps there's something to it. From behind the buildings, they slide, a skeletal knight, a wraith-like robot, a Grim Reaper-robe with a massive scythe, and a white female Decepticon in a 'torn' 'dress'. They leap into the air, along with Mortex himself, combining into an absolutely enormous skeleton in dented metal armor, an enormous bloody sword twice the size of an autobot in one hand and a huge version of the Decepticon logo as a shield in the other. It's absolutely terrifying as the machine shrieks a battle cry, raising the sword and sending it slamming down into the group of Autobots and Decepticons currently struggling. The hologram splatters harmlessly, but not the accompanying sonic cry, hidden by the shriek of the 'combiner'; the sonic waves timed to the sword ripple as the hologram disintegrates like a ghost struck by the morning vapors. Mortex strikes Gears with Sonics. Kup yells, "Right, Lightspeed! I'll keep them occupied! HEY CREEPY!" He's about to launch into a one-liner, but then Mortex begins his holographic fireworks show and Kup is just left at a loss for words, for a moment. "...what?" he says, watching the display, then rolling his optics as the hologram fades. "Oh, give me a fraggin' break. Where was I. HEY CREEPY! I... dammit, forgot what I was gonna say!" Grumbling to himself, he launches himself out of the window, laser musket blasting away at Mortex. Kup misses Mortex with his Musket Laser attack. Lightspeed ducked down, hopefully using his speed to ram into the 'schoolmistress' now, ready to take any shot fired at him. "All of this... all this chaos and trouble... I'm not going to let this come to waste now! Now calm down and come peacefully if you don't want to be deactivated!" He really was hoping that this could work out and that this will allow them the upper hand. Keeper glances to Yuul, seeing if the gunslinger is up to speed yet on just which of the visitors are friends and which are foes. The Guard keeps his blaster trained on Fleet as the others focuss on the brief apparition of the faux combiner. "Entropy is nothing without creation to fuel it." His blaster fires again. Keeper strikes Fleet with Blue Blaster Pulse - Low Yield. Shadow hovers in the air for a few moments as he surveys the situation. He lowers down to the ground, in the Schoolmistress's path. "Please stay where you are. It would make things much easier." The schoolmistress Autobot shakes his/her head at Lightspeed, optics wide, the pistol shaking in his/her hand. "You don't understand!" she hisses. "You think its an object, some magical deus ex machina! But its not, the Matrix is MORE than that... I got greedy, I got selfish, I left my friends and I came here, and with the help of Agorahex, I FOUND it and..." Her optics open wider. "You don't want to find it, it can't be found, the Matrix Quest must END!" She takes a step back as Shadow arrives too. "Because it... it isn't that, it isn't that at ALL!" Gears is plenty steamed. "Autobots don't go to hell," he growls, "Dirty Decepticons do." The sonic attack from Mortex reaches him, and he grabs the sides of his head. "AAAGGH, that racket is worse than one of Blaster's mix tapes! My audios will be ringing for days! And it's all YOUR fault!" The enraged Minibot swings back his foot, to deliver a boot into Fleet's aft, or shin, or wherever. Gears misses Fleet with his kick attack. Yuul is oddly quiet as he watches the ruckus, simply chewing thoughtfully as he fingers his pistol. "Seems to me" he mutters. "That this is an external matter. Maxitran don't need no help" Mortex tilts his head at Kup as the shot ripples over his body, the subtle force field flaring up at the laser musket's attack. Oh. So that's why he's been so damn cocky the whole time. He lets out another of those eerie laughs and raises his hands from the cloak as it unfolds, lifting off into the air as his disruptor-beams blast outwards, lancing towards Kup like a pair of energy-spears. "Flattery will get you to my operating table, Autobot!" He cries happily, blood dripping from his claws and falling to the ground with a splat, splat, splat. Mortex strikes Kup with Disruptor. Lightspeed stopped making attempts to stop the 'schoolmistress' finding his data to have been correct. Though what 'she' was saying was making him wonder now. "If whatever it is is that dangerous... we will destroy it then. That is our duty. You have to trust us. We are trying to find what we lost, because it can be dangerous in the wrong hands." Lightspeed said, glancing at Shadow. Right now he didn't trust the 'Con not to shoot him or the 'schoolmistress' but he just had to hope that he didn't. "Just... what did you find?" <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "This is him... we need to secure him!" Keeper's shot goes into Fleet's right shoulder, leaving a blackened hole in the yellow armor behind. He's able to dance back out of the way of Gear's kick, however, as he takes once more to the air. "Oh, really? Autobots don't go to Hell?" The Seeker laughs loudly. "Why don't you ask Ultra Magnus about that?" And with that, he starts to transform, intent, now, on getting the blazes out of Dodgeland Themepark. Fleet retreats from the area swiftly, outdistancing all pursuit and parting shots. Kup steps forward, disruptor blasts splattering against his chest. "Maxitran! If Lightspeed's reasonin' wasn't good enough for ya, then how about this. If you don't come with us, you'll be guilty of desertion. And an old soldier like me..." He stoops down to pick up a rock. "...don't exactly try deserters too good, see where I'm goin'?" He turns around, and throws it like a baseball at Shadow. "Oh, and Decepticon? Here's a little welcome back to the land 'a the livin'." Kup succeeds in grasping Shadow, throwing him off-balance. Shadow yelps as the rock hits him. He winces, rubbing his head. "Yes...thank you..." Not. He looks back to the Schoolmistress. "Are you going to cooperate?" The schoolmistress, or rather MAXITRAN for that is who it is scowls. "You don't understand, I am the galaxy's formost Matrician, I used the resources of Agnorax and I FOUND IT, blazing through the heavens like a screaming comet. I SAW it. It is best that it is lost before it is misused." She/he twitches slightly, and a panel lights up on his/her chest, bleeping and flashing. "It's a bomb. You won't take me, you can't know what I know. It is a /container/, that is all the Matrix is! It is MEANT to be lost!" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "I don't believe this! Ok, does anybody have any stun weapons this time?" <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "I do Kup." <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Thank Primus. You gotta use it on her... him... IT before he offs himself!" "No! Don't do it Maxitran! If you do, then the same mistakes will be made! If you do this, then there is no way for anyone to learn from the mistake! Just because you say that it is meant to be lost, that we should stop, doesn't mean that people won't continue to try" Lightspeed said. Sighing a bit, he pulled out his weapon, setting it to its stun and trying to fire off a shot on Maxitran. "Sorry, but I have to do this, so that the same mistakes won't be made." You evade Lightspeed's Special attack The bleeping in Maxitran's chest speeds up and he/she gives a sweet smile towards Lightspeed. "If you saw what I saw" she/he slowly states, as Lightspeeds blast misses him/her, "you would want to get as far away from it as possible. The trail ends here!" And then there is a small explosion as the chest bomb explodes, taking Maxitran's precious lasercore with it <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "Slag!" <'Autobot'> Kup says, "Dammit." <'Autobot'> Grimlock says, "Him not 'round!" Mortex cackles as he departs the planet's surface for whatever Decepticon ship may be above. Beautiful...beautiful. The Autobot had already revealed where they should go, and the trail did not end there... But he would remember to come back for Maxitran's spare parts...yes...the pieces left behind by the explosion might yield something interesting. And if not, Mortex could always use more Autobot parts... Mortex begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Galvatron, Fleet , Kup, Lightspeed, Blueshift. Yuul places both hands behind his back as he stares at the scene sadly. "It was how Maxitran wanted, that's all anyone can ask for" he mutters. "Now, I think you should all rightly go. This world is /closed/ for tourists" Kup gives Shadow an odd look. Most Decepticons, went attack, respond with savage violence. He figures this one must be a scientist or someone else not programmed for frontline fighting, shrugs, and... watches Maxtitran blow itself up. "Frag," he growls. Keeper should sigh at this point but doesn't. He simply gives Yuul the formerly whacko uber trigger happy cowbot a nod and oversees the Autobot extraction process, likely involving taking away the Autobot corpse and parts so no scavenging for you creepy creepies. "Slag!" Lightspeed calls out, covering his face and turning away from the explosion, mostly out of reflex. Sighing, he turned back to Maxitran, shaking his head some and walking over to the Autobot. He does make sure, along with Keeper, that Maxitran's body is taken into Autobot custody, assuring Yuul, if he makes any protests, that they'll bring him back. "This was a loss, no matter how any one can put it." <'Autobot'> Lightspeed says, "Maxitran's deactivated now..." Yuul simply nods to Lightspeed to give his consent. In a tough cowboy way Keeper, the hardened security mech, transforms down to a four legged monstrousity. Are we sure this is an Autobot? You evade Temple Dog 's Feeding Time attack. Kup nods, but glances to Braxturls office. "Yeah... yeah it was. But maybe there's still something in that guy's office we can use. Let's check it out before we go."